Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 45, Number 251, Decatur, Adams County, 24 October 1947 — Page 1

[Bp/ No- 25b

fire levels most of Maine resort city

Went To Badcast On Bgress Call ■w® — — M, Radio Tonight ■MB fell Need Os gHKecial Session — i Oct. 24. (UP) K^K P piihli<aii leaders of the gg. tip the “so-slow” signal ■K,.' resident Truman's ideas ting with high prices at European relief in the SBL -ial session of congress,. ■‘warnings came as Mr.j prepared to address the radio tonight to outline for summoning the session. He will speak over for 15 minutes, beginat 9 P- m - OST. (1 president may give addidetails of the administrailEroirram for combatting the K,.- Os living. -Host sources the attack to center on a |HE ( - allocation of scarce comlEfti- such as steel and grain, EXpossibly a revival of curbs buying. ■Roti Republican leader Charles H^Bz c k said the administraKj's foreign and domestic proare becoming “more and confused.” He said Mr. TruKg fas 'no workable plans” to the present crisis and dejßfrtf that the Republican conwould not be a “rubber John Taber. R., N. Y., of the key house approcommittee, returned from inspection tour and ■ft had seen no evidence in Hr and Italy that those counthe $642,000,00 in im-stop-gap aid proposed by ■r. T said he had been unable from the budget bureau any estimates of relief needs Bd added that it would “make B sense" to call his committee until he does. long statement castigating ■ and present administration Halleck accused Mr. Tru■of violating his promise to responsible congressional before calling a special times are too serious for B* tr " a l gestures,” Halleck said. B people are in no mood for shots at the moon.” Jgteither Halleck nor Taber, howB foreclosed the idea that the ®cial session would consider both Prices and foreign aid. Many members of congress who visited Europe this summer, and Democrats alike, that some early aid and France is essential. Republicans as well are concerned over ■ tTu ' , n To Page 6, Column""?) ~ OE bulletin Oct. 24 —(UP) explosion wrecked a four r y pharmaceutical laboratory the Delaware river tob Several employes were beB»« buried in debris. Bj hf blast tore a corner out S’ * * building, occupied by E‘ Kline and French Bt ' from th e second floor to V l ' roof. fc, ' 0 — B und Movie Shown ■ •'Otary Meeting LITo ® Ovie film ° n ‘he oraBhr r * UtUs and Hare Antony Bwn TT ° f Julius Caesar was ■ Deear, We * kly -Meeting of Bling Th e R fii tary ClUb Thursday B edL«» f m ’ used in the visBr at ‘° n pro * ra “ a t the DeBseiit Sen ! 01 high sch °ol. was B| i txuy Brown, prin■l nigh^n ta ' ians will observ e ladIXh? Thursdaj ’' with wives B’t- 1 vr tS ° f tbe iliembers as B'-ersity’ wh Busche - of Purdue f ni °nths inT ntly Bpent sev H l ' il '“lturai “ Gernian y as an B»y of vlser t 0 the u. S-. r s ' U H B tiOn \ Will be the ■d Mrs. p lv He 18 the son °f Mr. I Parti WEAT HER B Saturday Cloudy tonight and ■ north ana _ mewh ®t warmer lurday. entral portions Sat-

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Engine Blows Up, Five Are Injured Traffic Tied Up For Hours This Morning I Five members of a train crew were burned early this morning when an Erie railroad engine, pulling a loaded train, “blew up" just as the train was leaving the city. | The injured men: I John Tallman, engineer: Louis Diffenhaugh, conductor; ArthurWhitney, fireman; J. R. Eisenhaure and F. M. Purvis, brakemen, all of Huntington. The blow-up occurred just as the engine moved onto the Erie railroad bridge over the St. Mary’s j river — thus preventing the men from jumping to safety before reached by the escaping steam of the engine’s boilers. All of the injured received second and third degree burns about the face and hands, only parts of their bodies not* covered by a railroader's- working garb. They were taken to the Adams county memorial hospital in a private auto and after treatment and examination were released when it was discovered that none was critically burned. “I heard a roar and the steam jumpe'd out at us,” said one member of the crew. “I started to jump from the cab and saw the water below. I was really scared — there was no place to go.” Then he told how he scrambled over the coal tender and back out of the way of the hissing steam until it became too hot and he crawled out onto the bridge structure and then to safety. Several residents in the neighborhood said that they heard the roar when the engine “blew up” about 6:30 o’clock this morning — but some said that they thought the engine was just "letting off” steam. The engine was pulling 98 cars, the engineer said. It had just stopped to take water a short distance west of where the blow-up occurred. Railroad officials said the fact that they had stopped to take on water and had not picked up much speed likely saved their lives, since they would have been unable to leap from a speeding train. W. M. Buragerdner, local Erie station agent, said that the exact cause of the blow-up had not been determined at a late hour. A train crew began working on the engine soon after the incident happened. Traffic Nearly Paralyzed Auto traffic in that vicinity was practically paralyzed for hours after the blow-up occurred. It was some three hours before an engine arrived here to pull the stalled train back off the bridge (Turn To Page 2. Column 4) J. J. Yost To Head County Farm Bureau Elected President At Annual Meeting J. J. Yost, prominent farmer re-I siding near Monroe, was elected president of the Adams county Farm Bureau at the annual busi-i ness meeting, held Thursday evening at the Lincoln school in this city. The new president will head, for the next year, an organization which bow has more than 1,000 members in the county. C. K. Whistler, of Indianapolis, head of the livestock marketing division of the Indiana Farm Bureau, was the principal speaker at the annual session. He stressed to the large crowd in attendance the necessity of farmers joining forces to “reduce the huge margin of profit received by the few largA interests that control the slaughtering of livestock in this country.” Miss Betty Ann Heckman, of Preble township, was crowned insurance queen of Adams county during! the meeting with Enid Ripley, Rose Mary Ashleman, Adele Heckman and Phyllis Ashleman as her attendants. Music during the evening was provided by the “Mud Slingers of Union township, district winners in a variety program sponsored by the Farm Bureau. This organisation also won first place at the Indiana state fair.

Evacuate Hospital In Forest Fire Area. f *• . *^' c ’k-iTv ■ "st

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With a raging forest fire threatening, patients at North Reading State Tuberculosis Sanitarium near Reading, Mass., are hurried to waiting automo oiles for removal from the danger zone. So rapid was the advance of the flames that doctors and nurses began the exodus without outside help. Above, the children, the aged and crippled are given preference in the evacuation. (International Soundphoto.) I- I ■ . ■ —■ « ■ <■ ■ ’

Ruling Received On Electing Councilmen Five High Nominees Will Be Selected An important ruling on city election voting was received here today from the state board of election commissioners, by Gerald Vizard. Adams county Democratic chairman .The ruling is to the effect that c the five cffuncilmani candidates receiving the highest number of votes, regardless of party, will be declared the winners, regardless of the councilmanic districts. The Republicans have four councilmanic candidates for the five places on the city council and tho Democrats have five. Five are to be elected and the ballots are set up to show that Joe Krick is unopposed in one district. Under the ruling, Krick must receive enough votes to be among the first five, or he will not actually be elected. In other words, two candidates from one district could be elected, according to the ruling, and another district could be without unrepresentative on the council. Vizard, and Harry Hebble, Democratic city chairmen, are instructing all election workers to warn voters of the situation and explain to them that the safest way to elect all five Democratic councilmen is to vote a straight Democratic ticket in the November 4 election. The only candidate for city office who is certain of election is H. Vernon Aurand, incumbent Republican clerk-treasurer, who is unopposed. Republican voters may vote for all four of their councilmanic candidates and also for any one Deipocrat of their choosing, according to the electipn board filling. 0 Drouth Continues As Threat To Supplies Wheat, Meat, Timber Supplies Threatened By United Press The 23-day drouth threatening the nation’s wheat, meat and timber supplies continued to burn the soil and the forests today, only partly relieved by showers in some sections of the mid-west. Forest fires raging in 10 northern states have burned off more than 100,000 acres of timberland, made 5,50O 1 homeless and caused property damage well over $20.000,000. Nine persons died as a result of the fires in the last 24 hours. Rains fell yesterday and today in lowa, southwestern Minnesota, eastern Kansas and western Missouri. However, none was considered heavy enough to benefit the soil and there was no rainfall in the worst drouth areas of western Kansas. Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. The freak warm weather accom(Turn To Page 4 Column •)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY I

Decatur, Indiana, Friday October 24, 1947

BULLETIN Chicago, Oct. 24—(UP) — A United Airlines DC6 airplane carrying 46 passengers and a crew of four from Los Angeles to New York “apparently” crashed and burned today while attempting to make an emergency landing at Bryce Canyon airport in Utah, an airline official " said. ’ o : Refuse To Discard ' Poullryless Days Says Poultryless Days Saving Grain ' Washington, Oct. 24 i*—(UP)— President Truman's food committee todaj’ refused to drop poultryless Thursdays from its grain con- ' servation campaign and immediately bumped into a new challenge from the nation's turkey growers. Brushing aside the objections of the poultry industry, committee chairman Charles Luckman said there is evidence that poultryless Thursdays are saving grain for Europe. He said there was no proof the industry’s substitute plan would save as much. “The only way to save grain consumption by poultry,” he said, “it to reduce the production and raising of birds. Poultryless Thursday has been having precisely this effect.” He said the president’s cabinet food committee was in “full accord” with his decision. He released copies of two letters from secretary of agriculture Clinton P. Anderson backing him up on the controversial issue. Anderson said the proposals submitted by the< national poultry producers’ federation provide for “business as usual.” He said they (Turn H'o Page 3, Column 4)

Decatur Community Fund Will Open Annual Drive October 27

(Editor’s note — The Decatur Community Fund, Inc., was organized in 1943 for the specific purpose of combining all drives for funds into one. Since its organization, the Fund has collected and disbursed some $65,000. It is estimated, conservatively, that double this amount would have had to be collected by separate drives to accomplish the same results. This is the last of five articles concerning the Funds’ participating units. The Den The “Den”—The “Teen Age Canteen” —“Youth Center"—whatever title you give it, the place remains a glowing example of results obtained when community effort is exerted. In 1944, Decatur, like every other community, faced a juvenile delinquency problem. The Woman’s club fostered a teen age canteen plan; the American Legion offered a building; several local citizens donated equipment and the Community Fund furnished the necessary funds. Within two months, the canteen was opened. The teen agers im-

Burial Held Tgday For Sgt. Teeple First War Dead To Be Returned Home Almost as if it were in pre-ar-ranged final salute to the young flier who died in a China plane crash in World War 11, a plane from a nearby airport droned overhead this morning in the midst of impressive military burial rites for T-Sgt. Richard J. Teeple. His body was the first of Adams county War II hew dead, interred in overseas cemeteries in far-flung parts of the world, to be returned here for burial. Uniformed members of Adams Post 43, American Legion, and the official army guard of honor, T-Sgt. Frank J. Korenowski, escorted the body of the deceased soldier from the Zwick funeral home, where it ’ had been since arrival here Thurs- ! day, to the Decatur Catholic ceme- , tery, scene of the burial rites. ’ After religious burial rites were ! conducted by the Very Rev. Msgr. Joseph J. Seimetz, chaplain Floyd , B. Hunter of the Legion commit- ( ted the body of the veteran to the ! grave in brief military ceremonies. A volley of rifle fire from the Legion post tiring squad—the sounding of taps by a distant . bugler, and Sgt. Teeple’s body was . home to rest, after being buried ; for some two years at a temporary military cemetery in Oahu, Hawaii. The youth’s mother, Mrs. David H. Teeple. received from Sgt. Korenowski the American flag which had draped her son’s casket since the -arrival of his body here. Former Decatur Catholic high school mates of Sgt. Teeple. all veterans of World War 11. them-j selves, served as pallbearers. They are: Carl Schultz, Paul and Louis Wolpert, Harold Keller, Mark ColCTurn To P.lg-e 4 Column

mediately labelled their place “The Den.” Since then, over 1,500 Decatur lads and lassies have carried membership cards and this year’s membership already exceeds that of any previous year. Last year our youth spent over 52.000 hours enjoying themselves in an atmosphere any parent can be proud of. These teen agers, with a minimum of help from adiflts, have made and are continuing to make their “Den” bigger and better. Membership in “The Den” is open to any Decatur teen ager. Each year an election is held resulting in a staff of officers and directors who are responsible for all activities. Adult supervision is available to suggest and direct, but the student council’s decision is the final word. Dues are 50 cents per year and members are encouraged to earn the price of a membership ducat. "Out of town” guests are welcome and after School sports events, the "Den" is really a bee hive of activity. Special holiday parties are ar(Turn To Fag* I, Column 5)

Walls Os Flame Destroy Two-Thirds Os City, At Least 10 Die In Fires

29 Persons Die In London Train Wreck 150 Others Injured In London Suburb London, Oct. 24 —(UP)—Twentynine persons were killed today and some 150 injured when a southern railray commuters’ train speeding through a dense fog on London’s outskirts, crashed into the rear of another, stalled passenger (train and crushed two coaches. Sixty of the injured were taken to hospitals. The others were able to go home after first aid treatment by physicians and nurses summoned from hospitals in and around South Croydon. 'lt was at South Croydon station on the southern edge of London that the wreck occurred. Some of the passengers aboard the commuters’ train were schoolchildren and they were among the dead and injured. One of the first injured to be brought out of the wreckage was a girl in school uni- ’ form, clutching part of a broken 5 hockey stick in one hand. 5 Railroad men who were working only a few yards from the scene of the wreck said they did not see 5 the commuters’ train until it was nearly upon the other train. Then 3 it was too late. They said there ' was a loud crash and a “great ’ flash” as the locomotive ripped ' through the two rear cars of the stalled train. ’ Passengers were killed in both “ trains. The last two coaches of the ' rear train were thrown off the ‘ rails and tilted at a 45 degree 1 angle but they did not turn over. " An electric motor from one train was flung 50 yards from the wreck. Police and volunteers worked in corridors slippery with blood bringI ing«ont the dead and injured. Residents of nearby homes stripped the ' sheets off their beds and tore them into bandages for use in emergency ' first aid stations set up in the waiting rooms of the South Croy- ! don station. II - __ - (Turn To Pag" fi. Column 4) Sen. Robert A. Tass Tosses Hat In Ring Senator Will Seek G. O. P. Nomination — I Washington, Oct. 24.—(UP) — Sen. Robert A. Taft, of Ohio, today announced his candidacy for next year’s Republican presidential nomination. 'He is 58 years old and the son of a former president. William Howard Taft. 1909-13. Taft keyed his announcement to a cautious campaign of avoiding pre-convention primary contests with other Republican aspirants. His announcement came in the face of determined insistence by many influential Republicans that Taft would be a weak candidate. His supporters respond sharply that Taft already is the most influential man in his party. They insist that the 1948 G. O. P. platform must be largely a Taft platform because he was so effective in shaping the party’s legislation during the past session of congress. The senator is a fascinating and baffling political figure. To some persons he is a wild and wooly radical. That is what opponents of public housing think of him. To some other voters Taft is an unspeakable Tory. To many of his fellow citizens Taft looks like the most competent legislator in the United States congress. Taft's greatest weakness or his greatest strength may prove to be the labor control bill which he sponsored and carried tc enactment in the senate this year. Organized labor through its spokesmen appears to be boiling mad at Taft. He was plcketted on his western (Turn To Page 7 t Column •)

Russia Blasis At Probe Os Film Industry Hollywood Probe I Assailed By Reds In United Nations •i Lake Success. N. Y.. Oct. 24 — (UP) — Russit today attacked in the United Nations the house unAmer- , ican activities investigation of the . Hollywood film industry. i Dmitri Manuilsky, fire-eating representative of the Ukraine and himself a former chief of the Comintern. injected the attack in n sharp challenge to American opposition to the Soviet proposal for a ban on warmongering propaganda Manuilsky sarcastically declared that “this is a strange freedom where people are being hailed before congressional commissions for ! films produced during the war which were friendly to the Soviet Union and to the stand of the red army at Stalingrad.” Those who want peace and co- * peration, Manuilsky charged, and • those "who dare to say one friend- ’ ly word about the Soviet Union” t are being persecuted by congrest sional investigations. t It was the first Soviet comment I upon the house unAmerican com- ■ mittee’s inquiry into Communism in the film industry. Manuilsky said that “if propaganda for peace is considered evil, the obvious question may be asked; is this a preparation # lor a return to the Japanese system of struggle against dangerous thoughts which paved the way for the stab in the back at Pearl Harbor?” Manuilsky renewed the Soviet attack on secretary of defense James V. Forrestal, secretary of commerce W. Averill Harriman and John Foster Dulles of the American delegation, claiming they were suporters of "the doctrine of armed truce” instead of genuine peace. He said Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York also preached this doctrine. Asks Outhlawing Washington. Oct. 24 —(UP) —i Film star Ginger Rogers' mother! today asked congress to outlaw the Communist party and “preserve the .bill of rights for those for whom it was designed.” Mrs. Leia Rogers, a trim blue(Turn To Pag" 6. Column 5) — 0 — Geneva Principal Named By Teachers Vice President Os Teacher Association Ramon O. Hunt, principal of the Geneva high school for many years, was elected vice president of the Northeastern Indiana Teachers Association at the annual business meeting of the association, held at Fort Wayne Thursday. Carl F. Stallman, superintendent of schools in DeKalb county, was elected president. Last year's vice president. Stallman succeeds J. Wilbur Haley, principal of Washington school. Fort Wayne. Keiko Whiteman, superintendent of the Allen county schools, was reelected secretary - treasurer for the third consecutive year. The final general session of the two-day convention was held this afternoon at the Quimby auditorium in Fort Wayne, with Philip F. La Follette, of Madison. Wis., liberal politician and former goveinor of Wisconsin, as the speaker. Various sectional meetings qn topics of interest in different phases of education were I.eld this morning. The Decatur and Adams county public schools; which closed Thursday aud Friday for the annual institutes, will reopen Monday morning.

Price Four Cents

Weary Fire Fighters Apparently Winning Bar Harbor Fight; City Is Evacuated Bar Harbor, Me., Oct. 24 — (UP) Red-eyed, soot-grimed file fighters appeared today to be winning their battle against walls of flame which have leveled twothirds of this summer playground of the rich, forced evacuation of 3,500 residents and caused over $10,000,000 loss. ! They appeared to have halted . the advance of a lil-mile frontier ■ of fire that ringed Mount Desert - Island and made Bar Harbor a ■ hell on earth for more than 12 hours. Only another adverse shiff in the wind, authorities said, could bring new disaster to the hardpressed firemen and volunteers who battled the blaze with dynamite, bulldozers and mobile fire pumps flown here from Seattle. Wash. At least 10 deaths had been recorded as New Englanders fought an unprecedented series of forest fires from northern Maine to Connecticut. Damage, mounting hourly. was estimated to have passed .. the $20,000,009 mark by mid-dav. I Some of the damage could not . he measured by dollars. For in- • stance records of 35 years of can- . cer research were lost when the fire destoyed the Roscoe B. Jacksou memorial laboratory in Bar • Harbor. A large number of swank est ales, including those of formet under secretary of state Summer Welles, the late Sir Harry Oakes, and symphony conductor Walter Damrosch. went up in flames as Bar Harbor was engulfed by fire. The evacuation of Bar Harbor fire victims was to have been duplicated today at nearby Northeast Harbor and Seal Hf’i>r. But by the time coast guards arrived at those resorts, they found that the ill. the aged, and women and children already had been evacuated overland by bus. truck and automobile. Town manager Herbert A. Thomas of Northeast Harbor remained behind to direct fire fighting operations. I In these two resorts, conditions | were reported improving, too. Thomas believed that the blazes would be kept under control bar ring an unexpected shift of wind Driven to the rock-bound waterfront when this town was ringed by a curtain of flames, the villagers spent five terror-filled hours before they escaped bv sea or overland on a route hacked through the fiery trap. With half their town demolished. most of the frightened refugees were led to safety by a heroic band of soldiers from Dow Field who rode their bucking bulldozers through the ever-tighten-ing ring of flames, cutting a lane to safety over the Hull's Cove road. Others had been taken off tue island by navy, coast guard or fishing boats. Now these volunteers had gone back to make a stand on the southwest harbor road, facing the approaching inferno with shovels, axes and dynamite. There was no prospect of rain for drought-parched New England and at dawn more than 300 fires in the six-state area still were ablaze. This was the picture: Maine — the towns of Brownfield and East Brownfield wiped out. fully 75 other fires burning, thousands homeless, damage appar-* entlv approaching $17,000,000. New Hampshire — at least 100 homes destroyed. 50 of them in the Rochester area now facing fire on three sides. Damage estimated at. $500,000 to $1.000,00.090. Vermont — A half - dozen fires, all reported controlled. Massachusetts — eighty fires burning but all believed controlled, damage $500,000 or more Rhode Island — fifteen tires under control. Connecticut —about 30 controlled fires. • —